Brazil Sao Paulo East Mission

Brazil Sao Paulo East Mission

Monday, February 24, 2014

Today was awesome!!!!!!!!!


2-24-14

Today was awesome!!!!!!!!!!  Elder David F. Evans of the seventy spoke to us today for about 3 hours!!!  I’ll write more later in my letter. 

It's good to see Dad happy with the grandkids. 

Way to go mom talking the price of your home up 10,000 bucks! That's what’s up! 

Baby # THREE!! Yayyy!!! James told me through the email as well last week I think it was. I'm excited for them :) But the mildly bad news is that I'll Still be on my mission when they have the baby but the good news is that my niece/nephew won't notice the difference :) 

So how was your week? How is E Cosme doing and your relationship?  
My week was good. My relationship with Elder Cosme is still fairly good. Sometimes it's a struggle and sometimes it's really frustrating but I pray a lot to have patience and love and charity. So this morning to go to the conference I was like "Hah, I'll shine his shoes while he's taking a shower and then I'll put them back!" And so I did that and we left and we were on the train and I saw his shoes and they were the Other pair of shoes!!! The ones I didn't shine!! I was like "Gahhhhhhhh" But I mentioned it to him and he said he saw that I'd done that and I just said "Well at least they'll be all pretty for this week right?" Sometimes it's a real struggle not to get angry with him but I've certainly built up a higher tolerance and a higher patience in the past 3 months. This is one of the purposes that the Lord had in Elder Cosme and me being together. I've really had a good opportunity to grow in ways that I never would have grown otherwise. Like never. And so it's not always easy but I'm trying to make the best out of my situation and be more like Christ. 

When are your next transfers? 
March 4th. This is the last week of this transfer 

What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
Being held in the arms of my mother *Awwww* Haha nah I'm just kidding I don't remember that too well. I do remember one time though after we'd gone to the dentist (I think) we'd stopped by sonic (I think?) And on the way home I fell asleep in the car and then you carried me into the house and tucked me into bed while I was still sleeping :) I think that happened once as well where I woke up while we were pulling in but I continued to pretend to sleep and you did the same thing and when I got in bed I slept all the same! It's crazy to believe I was ever small enough to be carried by you! 

Do you sleep well at night?
I do. Sometimesss the mosquitos or other bugs bite me and annoy me and then I sleep a bit restlessly but I usually sleep well. 

What do you usually eat for breakfast?
Sometimes a banana shake, sometimes bread with ham and mayoneise. Sometimess other things. Banana shake is one of the easiest and fairly cheap and most tasteful and so is the bread.

I don’t know if I’m going to get to do my missionary spotlight on you before I leave the ward, but in case I do, is there any particular thing or experience(s) that you would like me to share with the ward?  Any message to them you would want me to share??
You might could share (might could....very southern right?) my story with Elder Cosme if you wanted. 

Did I mention I'm learning Spanish again? And starting to watch the preach my gospel videos with French subtitles :) It's fun. I like to learn. I was talking with some Elders from Argentina about some of my questions about español that I've had these days. 

We did a service project..more like he did a service project for a sister in the ward. She only had one tool (I think it's called a hoe) and so Elder Cosme went at it and I was ready to help and offered it 2 or 3 times but he just said "nah that's alright, it'll be fast" And it only took him about 30 minutes and then he used the sisters bathroom to take a shower because he got dirty. During which time I rested in the hammock and even slept for a bit :) It was good. 

So Delia and Francisco (or Xico or Chico which would be pronounced Shicoh in English I think) were confirmed members of the church this last Sunday! Yesterday! So that was cool. Unfortunately Elder Cosme smelled Alcohol on the breath of Francisco when we went later that day to visit them....This is something that brings sadness to me but at least we know now and we can talk with him directly about this. 

Also it appears that their daughter, Kesia, has lost a large part of her interest in the church...something changed with her in between our visits, we think that it might be the boyfriend. We'll continue to work with them and try to help them. 

We found another awesome family this week. The son works with some members and the mother, who is a mother of Eight, is Very friendly and accepts us openly and is excited to hear our message and already read half the pamphlet about the restoration. 

Andddd today!! Today was awesome!! We had Elder Evans visit our mission with his wife! They are awesome! He spoke for about 2.5 hours while she spoke for about 20 minutes. Before it all, we all had the opportunity to shake his hand which was cool! He shared so much knowledge that was very much inspired of the Lord I couldn't talk about all of it. I enjoyed all of what he said. He spoke in English and another Brazilian translated what he said. It was very powerful.  

These days I'm studying the life of Christ and what kind of things He did that were special, that set him apart, that made him Christ. One of those things is that He always taught and spoke with power and authority even unto the confounding of the Pharisees. Even to the point that he knew the hearts, thoughts, and intents of those that sought to stop him. This is a kind of power and authority that I've been really wanting as a missionary to be a better disciple of the Lord and this is something that I saw manifested in Elder Evans. When he spoke it was with power and authority.  

I'll tell you one of my favorite parts of what he said first and then mention some other things. He said something along the lines of "We know that even if missionaries don't keep all the rules or do all the right things or don't teach the people the right way and we know that these missionaries still baptize even doing it the wrong way and not really converting the people. I brought this up with Elder Bednar and he said 'I know and it is to their condemnation.'" After that he paused for a bit and the whole room was quiet and I know a lot of missionaries were like "..oh shoot" It was a very powerful statement.  

He went on to say that every person that we baptize just to baptize who isn't really converted is to our condemnation. When he said this I also thought back on the note that James sent me last transfer and I thought "wow, that's cool, James said the same thing basically." That was amazing. I think I might computerize my notes that I took now and write whatever else I remember and then maybe I'll send that to you guys later. He also talked D+C 31:2-6. In particular, in verses 5 and 6 he talked about our families and how when we serve faithfully that our families will live and that the Lord will prepare a place for them and he promised us that if we did serve faithfully that our families would be blessed and that the Lord would do everything he could to help them gain eternal life (meaning join the church) And this had a powerful effect with a lot of missionaries as a lot of missionaries were the only members in their families or they didn't have many members in their families. This was one of the few things about which Elder Cosme took notes on as he is the only active member of his family. 2 of his brothers are baptized but are inactive. 

He also talked about rules of the mission, what a relationship should be like between a sister and an elder. About facebook. Other things that apply directly to the mission and while he was talking I had the thought "Ah, he talked with president Ferrin and prepared" But then afterwards I was talking with another Elder and he said that he thought that Elder Evans was just inspired by the spirit and when he said that, I agreed as well. I think the spirit helped him in large part to know what to say and how he needed to say it. 

There was also an awesome part when an elder was talking in portuguese and Elder Evans responded without the translator having translated. Unfortunately I didn't personally witness this part..I think I was taking notes when it happened and so wasn't paying exact attention but I heard from a couple Elders that that happened. One said "Man, the gift of tongues exists! Or the gift of interpreations" because he didn't speak portuguese, just understood it.

I could go on and on and on but I'll do what I said, computerize it and write what I remember still and then I'll probably send that to you guys alright? Anyways that was just awesome. Oh he also talked about what it means to be a true disciple of Christ!  

I hope you guys liked the letter, thank you for all your love and support. The church is true. How could it not be. I know that the Lord has a great purpose in all of our lives. 

Elder Horton

Ever striving to be a better disciple of our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ
 





 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Marriage...Baptism


(In response to news that we’re moving to Houston)
Mom told me you were wanting me to read this letter and let you know what my thoughts were on it. I'd already read it and I'm not devastated or anything like that. It was a surprise to me but I'm happy to hear that you guys prayed about it and that this isn't just your decision but the Lord's and so I know it will be for the best for you guys and for our family. It's a very logical decision as well. I like that you talked about how the Lord has blessed you with job security and even though 95% of your division was laid off that you were kept on. It's a blessing of living the gospel and it's a testimony building experience for me. I also liked what you said about your new division being hungry for chemical engineers to the extent that it is! You know me, I'm a happy ChemE and anything that means a job is awesome. I don't have any problems with returning to a new house that I don't know, you guys know me, I'm a flexible guy. And while you guys will be moving farther from James, Liz, Rie and Andrew, you'll also be moving closer to our other family in Utah, Oklahoma, Washington. It's not closeee but it's closer. 

Mom you're an awesome mom, but you don't have to cry. You'll have eternity with us! This is just what needs to be done for now. It'll all be okay :)  

I love you both. I'm happy that you guys are happy and doing the Lord's will.
 
How are you doing? I'm fine, always happy to be on the computer!
 
How was your week?  My week was pretty awesome! We didn't have the best numbers but this week we managed to help Delia and Francisco be married and then baptized!!! And so that was really awesome. I'll send you guys some pictures of that in a second. Or thousand or so...But it was way cool. They were way excited. They were "happy before" but now they're "more happy." Unfortunately, Neither Kesia neither Natan went to church yesterday and so they won't be able to be baptized this week :/ 

What was the best part?  The legal wedding of them and their baptism! 

What was the worst part? Good question...There are some pretty depressing moments with Elder Cosme. Sometimes it's really hard to be his companion. I'm trying to do what's right though. I'm proud to say that lately when he's gotten angry and fights with me that I've kept my calm and haven't raised my voice or done anything stupid (Though I've thought about it before). I'm trying to have more patience..more love... 

What is some scripture or concept you have been studying lately that has significance for you? I've been watching a lot of the Preach My Gospel videos lately and I've been really liking that. I think spiritual videos are like an automatic door for the Holy Ghost. You just start watching and boom! The Holy Ghost is there! And I've been learning a lot of really good things from this videos that I've been applying and seeing results. For example I learned in there about asking inspired questions. Questions that come not from my mind but from heaven, from the spirit. And I tried applying it once and I asked a question after thinking for a couple seconds about what I should ask and our investigator said that she felt like she had an empty space in her life bu that now, the empty space is filled as we've been teaching her!! That's awesome!!
 
I've also been studying lately in the Bible the life of Jesus Christ because I'm trying to be more like him and so I'm studying the things he did. Something he always did is confound the Pharisees and others who were trying to debunkle (real word? who knows, you know what I mean) him. A lot of times it says that He "knew their thoughts, the thoughts of their hearts" and this knowledge comes through the Holy Ghost. And so I've been seeking to have more guidance by the Holy Ghost lately and I'm continuing my studies. 

I found a cool scripture for missionaries! It talks about if you leave your house, or your mother, or your brother, or your wife or your children or your land or some other things then you will be rewarded 100 fold or something like that. Cool right? 

I...didn't really prepare anything to write about for this week. And I can't think of anything else for now...so I'll close this letter for now. I love all of you! Thanks for the support and love. The church is true! 

Elder Horton
 
 Marriage

 Baptism



 
 

Monday, February 10, 2014

Maria Aparecida was baptized!

2-10-14

Mom,

I smiled when you told me about the new season of 24. I hope Jack ends up happy in this one.

I'm happy to hear that Elder Fowler is doing well on his mission and is learning and becoming a better person.  How's the prospective Elder Fowler (Cameron) doing? Does he still have that girlfriend?

The lady from Italy is actually a sister, a missionary from the US serving in Italy. I think she should be getting the letter I sent to her in the next week or so..I sent it last week. I don't know how long it takes.

Did I mention I'm reading the book of Mormon in Spanish? It's pretty interesting. I thought I'd forgotten almost all Spanish but it seems that I just switched a lot of it to Portuguese and stored other parts in my memory because I understand almost all of what I read in the book! It's been difficult to read with an accent that's not Portuguese though but I'm getting used to it. I'm hoping to have a Spanish companion one day with whom I can practice Spanish. Maybe I'll come home tri-lingual!  Maybe 4-lingual, I'm also learning a couple things in sign language....of course it's not universal sign language, it's Portuguese sign language and so only valid here. One of the members has a daughter that's deaf and so I learn some wordzinhos when I'm in their house.

I knew you would cry when I said you were one of my tender mercies, love you mom!

It's cute to hear about Isaac and Jana. Do they still remember me? If you showed a picture of me to Isaac, would he remember? I won't be downhearted if they don't

My week was good. We prepared Maria Aparecida and she was baptized this week! And so that was awesome. We'll have to follow up well with her and help her out. I thought about her situation when we were teaching her. With her weaker mind, is it really right that we baptize her? I try to avoid all appearances of evil (GH) and so I thought about it and I came to the conclusion that she needs to be baptized just as much as everyone else. The GH thing to do is teach her and then leave her. And so for this, I'm going to follow up good with her and make sure her needs are met. She's a sweet senhorinha. She was happy yesterday when she was being baptized. She gave me a hug :) I couldn't deny it.  She doesn't work, her son supports her. I think her abusive husband didn't help but she also had 2 hemorrhages I think is what it is in English. 

Oh speaking of hug, another woman gave me a kiss on the cheek! Yiche! I mean she has like 45 years but I wasn't really expecting it. We shook hands and she started to pull my hand and I didn't really know what she was doing but I was like okay and then she kissed me on the cheek! I wasn't really prepared for it and no one's ever tried to do it before so I guess my defenses were down.

This last Friday marked 6 months in the mission and less than 18 months left. I'm not counting (really, I'm not, not sarcasm) but the time flies. But it only flies if you're working.

Delia and Francisco are good. They didn't get baptized this week :/ because the boss didn't let her have a day off to get married legally. But this week she'll have Saturday off and they'll get married. The only other thing is that she has to stop smoking. She smoked 2 cigarros yesterday and she knows she has to stop and I know she can but it'll be difficult. We'll stick with her on this one. Their daughter, Kesia, is also accepting our messages. She's liking them and curious to know more. She's not like dying with curiosity but she has enough. We taught her the word of wisdom and she doesn't do any of the 5 things....kind of. She doesn't smoke cigarro but she smokes narguilo or hookah and she thinks it doesn't have a bad effect and doesn't make you addicted. I'm going to research it more today and I'll talk with her about it tomorrow. She accepted the invitation to be baptized but it won't be this week but probable the next.

It's funny you said the high that day would be 29 and I thought "Oh about normal for me at night" and then I realized "wait....that’s Fahrenheit, ohhhhh that's cold" like -2 Celsius. And then I saw 58 and I thought "dang that's hot!!" even though just before I'd realized that it was Fahrenheit. It's different being in a different country.

Anyways...I don't have any cool stories for this week I think...if I think of any I'll let you know. Everyone, when they find out about my spy pen, always wants one for themselves. Everyone wants me to ask for one for them but I always say that I can show them how to get it but I won't buy it for them because I don't want to be responsible if something happens.

Thank you for your words of love and comfort and counsel and your stories from home, I love you mom :)

Elder Horton
 
 Baptism of Maria Aparecida

 
  The smoke is from a fire. Random fire's just happen here.
That and it hasn't rained in like 3 weeks..for this reaons it's been Really hot.
 
Photos with my Spy Pen

 
 



 
 
 

Monday, February 3, 2014

Wheat Harvester


2-3-14
Oi família!
And so this week has been good, better than I think any week up to this point. We didn't fight this week even once and we joked around a bit while we were working and it was good.
I'm sorry again that last week I didn't have a chance to write, I'll do my best to not let that happen again.
Thank you for the prayers, the fasts, and the thoughts. I know that you love me and really want to help me and the things you send do help me so thank you.
I'd heard of that lemonade story before, it teaches a good lesson. This past week, I've made his bed almost all of the days and he expressed his gratitude for that. I've also been seeking other ways to show that I care about him. Like giving him food, I also bought some sweets today but I didn't eat all of them and I'll give some to him. I think that this has really made a difference this week. The fact that he sees that I actually care about him and also I think he's trying to be a bit better. But with where we are in our companionship, I'm fairly happy. It's not perfect nor ideal but it's a lot better. I just hope it can continue to improve.
That's cool that the Sanders are serving another mission! And that Chase is putting in his papers, tell him to write me!
I miss snow. Here it's just hot all day every day. I'm fairly used to it but I just want to sit by a fire with a blanket and roast some smores. Here in 2 years right!?
I'm sure that the Lord sends me tender mercies but as for me recognizing that they are tender mercies, I don't recognize it in the moment usually. I'm thinking about something now that might be a tender mercy. So do you remember how Sister Spencer (Mother of Mady) asked for my mailing address? Well I got the letter that she wanted to send me. It was a letter from a Sister with which Sister Mady Spencer was living at the time! It was very unexpected but it was cool. It was handwritten and she spoke a bit about the purpose of her letter and then asked me 15 get to know you questions which I thought was random but cool, it made me feel special. She wrote the letter the 10th of December and I just sent out my response letter now and so it took a while. But last time, when she sent it, she sent it to Augusta and then it came here and then I forget about the letter when I received it for about a week and 2 days haha. But that was cool.
Oh also I had the opportunity to download church music of the young woman in Portuguese from a sister in the church! So I've been listening to that and that's been cool as well.
You're a tender mercy too mom. Probably one of the tenderest. I'm blessed to have you as my mother and I know that God chose you to be my mom and Dad to be my Dad for a good reason. Thank you both for your support and your tender mercies.
I found out recently that the hymn "I need thee every hour" is based off of 2 Nephi 4! My scripture! I've always liked this hymn and now it makes sense why. There’s also another hymn done by the men's tabernacle choir called "I love the Lord" I think that was on the site, lds.org/youth/music (where I downloaded a large majority of my music legally for free) but it was taken off before I could download it :( It's also based off 2 Nephi 4. I love it... Hey I just looked again and it's there! Yay! Already downloading :)
Isaac is very cute, I miss him. If you have any videos of him doing anything, if there's an easy way to send them to me, that'd be awesome.
That's cool there'll be another trek between the 2 stakes. Will you and dad walk it again? 
Last week you asked some questions that I never responded to, here they are again with my responses:
How are the people you’re teaching progressing?  It sure sounds like you have a bunch!! We do have a fair amount! We had 5 investigators go to church this week and we're planning on baptizing 3 of those 5 this week if it all goes well. We have about 13 Books of Mormon that are out and about and working with the people that we still haven't cut.
Do you ever do any sight-seeing on your P-days?  Are there sights to see?? Sometimesss yeah. Since arriving, I haven't had one p-day dedicated just to sight see but there are sights to see, you just have to know where to look and go there.

What was the best part of your week? Good question....This week was good because we spent a lot of time in the houses of other people and not on the streets. So even though it's been ridiculously hot lately without any rain, I didn't feel it as bad as I would've if I'd been on the streets
Do you write in your journal a lot? Daily! Every day, I cycle a color as well. I use 4 colors, black, red, blue, and green. I have a 4 color pen and so that's very useful to record my daily events. 

What advice would you have for future missionaries – ones preparing now to serve? Study preach my gospel
This week, as I already said, has been pretty good. Unfortunately, Delia and Francisco (or chico or xico) didn't stop smoking by Tuesday and weren't married this past week and so we had to delay their baptism until this Sunday but I have a good confidence that they'll be baptized

Also Maria Parecida is scheduled to be baptized this week. She's a sweet senhora. She'd had a tough life with an abusive husband who's now dead. She's a bit slow of mind but she does what we ask her too! She read the Book of Mormon and prayed and received an answer and she also stopped drinking coffee without problem! We just have to teach the commandments for her to be ready to be baptized this week. We're also working with her son who works usually out of ton so it's a bit difficult to work with him but he's interested.
So I was thinking about my spy pen. I was thinking "man this is awesome, but it only looks in one direction! And it's not always forward! What if I had Spy glasses! Now That would be something!" I had the thought soon after that "What if...I had a hard drive with a terrabyte of memory in my backpack and I recorded my whole mission!! Now THAT would be something!" But that would cost around.....300 dollars I think and yes it'd be very cool...but I think it's a bit unreasonable. Thoughts of Elder Horton under the hot sun.

Something I've noticed here that I think is kind of funny is that there's a lot of people here that when they talk on the phone, they remove the phone from their ear and talk directly into the microphone...usually. I saw one guy one time talk into the speaker as if it was the microphone haha. I don't know if it really makes much of a difference but I think it's funny that they think it makes a difference.
Someone else said that I almost don't have a foreign accent which made me feel awesome.

But then someone else didn't understand me for about 30 seconds until she got used to my foreign accent haha and sooo who knows.
A funny story. We were in a bread shop/bar thinking a bit about our investigators before lunch. I had my planner out and was writing stuff down and then we decided to leave. We got about 40 yards away and then a drunk in the bar started to yell at us, we turned to look and Elder Cosme asked "did you forget your planner?" I'd forgotten my planner! I ran back to grab it and the drunk said "Who drank alcohol, me or you??" It was pretty funny

I also shone a pair of shoes for church! That was pretty cool. I liked it.
Last zone meeting was awesome. The LZ's shared an awesome story and testified about the calling of God of our President. And another Elder who just got here in the mission shared an awesome story as well. Since he was like 4 his parents had been separated but he said that he got a letter that they're together again and happy! His first P-day in the mission. He testified about obedience and the blessings that come from obedience. It was awesome. And another Elder bore his testimony about not judging others. Also awesome (And directed at my companion.) He quoted Joseph Smith "The first step of Apostasy is talking bad about the leaders" or something like that. He said it in Portuguese.

Well this is the main bulk of my letter. I did it one of the first things. I'll write the pres. now and other people and do other things. Thank you both for your love and support. I love you both.
Elder Horton

I saw this picture and at first I was just thinking
"hm, that's a cool machine, it must harvest wheat Real well."
And then I thought "Hey! Wheat! Harvest! cool! Picture!"
 
Some of the first pictures with the SPY CAM.
  Awesome vehicle
It plays music, has 3 wheels but I don't think thats a tv.
Just a display for speed and what not.

 
Maria Parecida is the little senhora whose picture I took.
 
 
 Pumpkin sweet - like...sweet of pumpkin.
Like a sweet thing that's made out of pumpkin.

Me and Elder Cosme